Prep football: Two 200-yard runners carry Hononegah

MACHESNEY PARK — De Woods kept running like a wrecking ball to bring Harlem back, but not even Woods’ power and Tanner DiGiovanni’s passing could match Hononegah’s speed.

Harlem simply had no answer for Alex Martin and Jake Wilson, who put on a spectacular rushing show in Hononegah’s 41-27 NIC-10 victory Friday.

Hononegah (5-2) kept sending Martin into the middle of the line like a missile and one of the NIC-10’s premier sprinters finished with 241 yards on 33 carries.

“I love getting the ball, no matter if it’s inside, outside, round side, any side,” Martin said. “I’ll just run the ball and get it in there.”

Wilson ran for 213 yards on 19 carries, including touchdowns runs of 62 and 64 yards. He took a pitch right and cut all the way back to the left sideline on his opening 62-yard TD run and his 64-yarder on the second play of the third quarter gave Hononegah the lead for good, 20-13.

“I really helps us to be diverse,” Wilson said. “We can score from anywhere with both running backs.”

But Harlem’s scores always seemed hard; the Huskies converted four third downs and one fourth down, all needing at least four yards, on their first TD drive. Hononegah often made it look easy; Wilson and Martin combined for 31 runs of at least 5 yards.

“We were just shoving it down their throats,” Martin said.

Martin and Wilson praised Hononegah’s line, but it also helped that Martin was zooming up the middle seemingly as soon as he touched the ball.

“He hits it pretty fast,” Wilson said. “You’ve got to get your block quick or he’ll run right off the back of you.”

“He gets to the hole fast,” agreed Woods, who also plays defensive line for the Huskies. “As soon as they do what they’ve got to do, he takes off.

“They were difficult to stop. You couldn’t really see who was getting the ball.”

Martin bounced outside for a 39-yard TD run to cap a 90-yard drive and give Hononegah a 34-20 lead. Woods answered with a 1-yard TD run with 3:43 left, but Hononegah uncovered the onside kick and didn’t even need a third down to score again with seven straight runs.

“It was an awesome game,” Martin said. “We just came out and got the job done.”